Virginia Scofield:
CLASS OF 1966
Lee High SchoolClass of 1966
Midland, TX
Irving High SchoolClass of 1966
Irving, TX
Virginia's Story
I have moved to south Texas, and I am on the faculty of the UT Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine.
I went to two high schools: Lee High School, in MIdland, and Irving High School, in Irving. Two years each.
Patty Elam Bradley and I have reconnected. We were best friends in our sophomore year at Lee. Actually, there were three in our group: Suzi McLaughlin, who pledged the same sorority as I did at UT, and who now is a working actress; Patty, who is a master chef and businesswoman, and Susan Walters, whose address I would love to know. We all loved the Beatles, and we used to meet at Suzi's house to dance to their music. At Alamo Junior HIgh, my particular friends included Rita and Nita Waltrip, Gloria and Norma Culver, and Clydene Morris.
At Irving High School, my best friends included DeDe Walton, who was with me in the Toy Tigers drill team, Andrea Horner, Shelby Dodds and (in our junior year) Sallie McClellan and Danny Alston. Sallie and Danny and I would dance at her folks' apartment, while playing "Love Potion Number Nine" by the Clovers.
Of my Irving High friends (sophomore to senior year), I last connected with Dede Walton, who visited me in Smithville, Larry Williams, Shelby Dodds and Cecil Cherico (my high school sweetheart) and Bill Cherico. Bill is my surgeon in Austin, TX. In the late 1990s, before I left Los Angeles for MD Anderson, David Gregory kindly put me back in touch with Shelby, who provided me with addresses for Mickey Harper and for Larry.
I have spoken recently to Bob Nolen, from Lee High, and we plan to meet during one of his trips down here.
Before this happened, Mike Ingle (from Lee) wrote to me via Classmates. At the last reunion in Midland, I reminded him that he did all the stuff the rest of us were afraid to do, e.g. calling our math teacher by her first name, in class. I enjoyed talking with David Adcock at the last LHS reunion in Midland....Expand for more
David drove us both up from Austin, and showed me some historical landmarks I'd known nothing about on that highway.
I spent a lot of time in detention hall at Alamo and at Lee, but mostly for sins of omission (left gym clothes at home; undone homework). In my years at Lee, I was too timid to misbehave actively, although I loved to watch other people do it (e.g. Mike). When my family moved to Irving, I was more organized and more focused, with college decisions looming. In college, I spent three years partying at UT in Austin, and then pulled in the reins my senior to straighten out my GPA for graduate school.
Before moving from my last job at MD Anderson, I reconnected with my Midland Amateur Astronomical Society colleagues (I was the only girl, in 1964). Roy Williams had our observatory on his parents' land. This is now a lively and grumpy opinion exchange group, kept alive and buzzing via e-mail. They found me several months ago, and many of us are having unusual adventures as we move through these years.
As a living space, I've rented a relatively cheap industrial loft in McAllen, close to work, and furnished like an industrial space; all white but with comfortable cushions everywhere. Big long windows that face east, so I see every moonrise. It feels just right, as in: not nailed down. Everything in it, including my beds, is nomadic, can be folded up into a tiny package and carried away again, should I decide to move. It's nice to let all the wires and pipes show. The other advantage is the relaxed way you can handle clutter. If there's to be a dinner party, you just shove things off the table and chairs to make room for the dishes and people. There's no elevator, and I walk up four steep flights of stairs to reach my door.
Thank you to everyone who has contacted me through Classmates. If you remember me and haven't written yet, I'd love to hear from you.
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